The Administrative, Clinical, and Biostatistical Core section of the Center provides several functions in support of the research objectives of all sections. These include: 1) identification and characterization of human subjects; 2) periodontal treatment and maintenance when required by the experimental design; 3) central data management, data analysis, and experimental design; 4) management of human subjects and patient records; 5) secretarial and clerical assistance and financial management. Ongoing studies require the clinical characterization of subjects as well as reliable determination of changes in clinical parameters over time. Clinical investigators within this section fully document the status of these subjects by measuring dental plaque levels, gingival inflammation, gingival bleeding, suppuration, probeable pocket depths, loss of periodontal attachment, and tooth mobility, and determine diagnoses. For some studies, periodontal treatment is provided by members of this group. The biostatistics core group is responsible for management of the large amount of clinical and laboratory data generated by the other sections. In addition, statistical analyses of data generated from the various interrelated projects are accomplished by this group, and when required, new methodologies for statistical analyses are developed. Furthermore, assistance with project design and methodology is provided.